All Rise...

Judge Daryl Loomis knows that the owner of a lonely heart is much better than the owner of a broken heart.

The Charge

There's lots of love in you, Ernie. It just needs an object.

Opening Statement

Cary Grant (His Girl Friday) was
one of the finest actors in the history of Hollywood, but skill or no skill
didn't stop the studios from pigeonholing him as the lead in romantic comedies.
He badly wanted to act in dramas, and finally got his chance with None But
the Lonely Heart. It was a film Grant was always proud of, and he gave quite
an impressive performance, but studio heads were not so impressed by the box
office receipts. The studios were not keen on giving him another shot, and back
to getting the girl he went.

Facts of the Case

Rapscallion layabout Ernie Mott (Grant) has just returned home from tramping
about England, but his mother (Ethel Barrymore, The Great Sinner)
suspects he's only back for some money. They'd never gotten along, so they start
fighting again right away, and he's about to leave when she tries to convince
him to stay and help run her pawn shop. When she confesses her cancer to him, he
begins to warm to the idea. In staying, he meets the girl of his dreams, but he
still has no money and risks it all by turning to crime to afford her.

The Evidence

Based on the book by Richard Llewellyn (who also wrote the novel How Green
Was My Valley), None But the Lonely Heart is a depressing little
tale, but the performances are a delight to watch. This was a story close to
Cary Grant's heart. The hard-scrabble character of Ernie Mott was much like the
Archie Leach he grew up as and the setting was one he grew up around. He seems
very natural and comfortable in the role. This is one of the more conflicted men
he played in his career, and the character's shades of gray allow him to spread
out his acting wings a little bit.

Grant's skill becomes especially apparent when working alongside the
legendary Ethel Barrymore, returning to Hollywood after more than a decade on
stage. Their verbal sparring is on par with anything he did with Kathryn
Hepburn, but it feels much different here. Ernie's arguments with his mom reveal
a lifetime of mistrust and animosity. Mrs. Mott resents her son for sponging off
of her, but he is still her son, so she lets it happen and her resentment for
him grows. Ernie's not exactly easy to defend. He comes and goes as he pleases,
and cares little for what that does to his mother. He doesn't respect her
continued sacrifice in making sure that he's okay and is much more concerned
with what she can offer him now. With the reveal of Mrs. Mott's sickness,
though, Ernie sees his chance at redemption.

The people Ernie meets and the places he goes make up the sad heart of the
film. No one in None But the Lonely Heart has a sadder heart than Ada
(June Duprez, The Thief of Bagdad),
the woman who Ernie falls for. Ada has a whole separate set of problems from the
Motts. She is divorced from Jim Mordinoy (George Coulouris, Citizen Kane), a big man in the
underworld. He still wants her, and doesn't want anybody else horning in on what
he sees as his territory. Knowing that Mott is poor and in love with his ex,
Mordinoy sees an opportunity. He offers Ernie a job as one of his thugs,
understanding that Ada will refuse to be with a criminal and Jim will regain his
advantage to possess her. The road Ernie follows proves his downfall. The film
wraps on a satisfyingly down note. It's rare to see a film end like this today,
let alone in 1944 and, sad as the whole thing made me, I appreciate the
novelty.

June Duprez is simply fantastic in the role of Ada, sweet and pretty, but
deadly sad, like she's on the verge of offing herself at any moment. She has an
amazing charm and a sensitivity in her voice that's hard to describe, as though
the closer she comes to tears, the more she falls in love. She's a fantastic
foil for Grant, and her role in the unexpected ending of the film makes for a
strangely bittersweet tragedy. George Coulouris mirrors her personality very
well as the friendly, scummy Mordinoy. He's the opportunist who ruins everything
for everybody, all with an aloof smile and the complete freedom to do whatever
he wants. He's a warm villain who mostly seems reasonable, but can't accept that
somebody else loves Ada. Additionally, Dan Duryea (Scarlet Street), one
of my all-time favorite character actors, has a great early role as one of
Mordinoy's thugs with some very funny lines. Director Clifford Odets (The
Story on Page One) doesn't add a lot of style to the film, but doesn't get
in the way of the actors either. He wrote the film as well as directed, and
proves stronger as a writer. The script is well-paced and there are some
fantastic individual pieces of dialog.

None But the Lonely Heart is a top shelf production all around. It's
a shame that moviegoers couldn't accept Grant as a pure dramatic actor, but they
had been led into the notion of what he should have been. It's failure at the
box office meant that Grant would find little in this vein for the remainder of
his career. He had a knack for it, and that's too bad.

I guess I should be thanking Warner Bros. for making their deep catalog
available under the Warner Archives online label, but the ingrate that I am
knows that many of these films, None But the Lonely Heart included,
deserve more than they're getting. Technically, the disc performs somewhat
better than a good VHS tape. It looks relatively clear, but there is enough
scratching and grain to make it off-putting. The contrast scale is generally
fine, though it is sometimes tough to make everything out in the brighter
scenes. The mono sound is decent, nothing special. There are no extras.

Closing Statement

It's too bad Cary Grant didn't appear in more straight dramas, because he's
excellent through and through in None But the Lonely Heart. Great all
around performances bolster the slow and sad story. I wish Warner Bros. deemed
the film worthy enough for a proper release, but I can still recommend the
film.